Change is just part of being a missionary...

There are many ups and downs when you are serving as a missionary. It just comes with the territory. Sometimes things fall through with the people that you are teaching and other times there might be issues with your companion that need to be worked out. But all of those things just provide opportunities for growth and Alex is finding that out. Apparently Alex and his companion, for whatever reason, decided that it was time to move to a different appartment. So they spent this last P-day packing things up so that they could move. You would think that for a missionary, packing and moving wouldn't be that hard since they are used to moving from place to place. But Alex mentioned that moving everything from one house to another was a bigger job than they expected. He also mentioned that he enjoyed living where they were, but who knows, sometimes new opportunities come with new territory.

Speaking of opportunities, in the last blog entry I mentioned how Alex has had opportunities to exercise his priesthood through giving blessings. One of those opportunities involved a young man in his ward that had recently been in a car accident. Well the good news here is that this young man is recovering nicely but has still been in a lot of pain. So to cheer this young man up, Alex and his companion decided to visit him and bring him some gifts. Alex described these gifts to us as,

"... a pink suit coat with gold buttons, a clone trooper helmet, and the ugliest sweater you have ever seen!"

They even decided to sing to this young man a song entitled "I'll be your hero" by Julio Iglesias. For some reason Alex has decided that singing is his new talent. Singing seems to come up a lot in several of his last few letters. I'm not sure why singing seems to be at the center of several of his stories, like singing on the doorstep as they are tracting, singing at the Ward Christmas party, singing to a young man who needs some cheering up or singing on the video that he sent home to us. But it seems to be working for him so I say, "if it ain't broke don't fix it". Well maybe that wasn't the best way to put it. As far as something being "broke", if you heard his singing you would understand. ;-) Anyway, getting back to the story that I started with. Apparently their gifts and singing must have worked because Alex ended the story with "it was so funny!!!!". Did you catch that? Count them. Four exclamation marks!!!! It must have been hilarious (in more ways than one).

Alex said that the work as been going really well. They have been teaching over 20 people recently and several of them decided to come to church a couple of weeks ago. In his letter he said,

"But you have to remember who is really doing the work, and who is really in charge. Alma 26:12:

Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

So the lord is definitely blessing us right now, so we just need to keep doing the right things and working hard."

Alex had another interesting new experience that he has never had before. Teaching "Sharing Time" in primary. His mother knows this experience very well, but it was all new to Alex. He didn't really go into detail about what they taught the kids, I'm sure it had something to do with missionary work, but in his letter to us he asked his Mom how she did it all of those years. Apparently the senior primary had a few problems that week. But I'm sure it all went well even with some disruptions from the senior primary. The kids probably really enjoyed having the missionaries come and teach them during sharing time. Just another one of those little experiences that will prove to be valuable later in life.

Here is a story that just goes to show you just how small the world is and who you might meet one day. Last summer before Alex left on his mission and even before he had received his mission call, he spent his time working and earning money for his mission. He became really good friends with his boss at work and many times his boss would tell Alex stories about his family back in Missouri. Well guess what Alex just discovered? The same people that he had heard stories about all summer long, are actually some of the very same people that he is now working with in the Ward where he is serving. It seems that no matter where Alex goes, he seems to find some connection with the people he meets that tie him back to Utah. Small world don't you think? Or was his mission call to Missouri and Kansas not really a coincidence? I think you know the answer to that one. :-)

I'll finish off this entry with an addition to one of the stories that Alex told in the last blog entry. Remember the story about the seven giggling girls that greeted the missionaries at the door while Alex and his companion were out tracking? Well apparently those weren't the only giggling girls that they encountered in the last couple of weeks. So here is the story. A week or so ago the Young Women's organization invited the missionaries to teach the beehives a lesson during their weekly activity night. So as good missionaries should, they showed up prepared and started teaching this group of young girls. Sometime during the lesson, the beehive leader stepped out of the room to go and talk to the older girls in a different class. When she walked into the room where the older girls were, they started complaining and asking why they hadn't been invited to class where the missionaries were teaching. The young women's leader was a little surprised by the girls' complaints and asked them why they would want to meet with the younger beehives. They have never expressed an interest in being with the beehives before. Well apparently the young women's leader misunderstood the older girls' complaints. You see, it wasn't because of the beehives that they wanted to be in the other class room. ;-) Alex finished up the story by saying, "So I guess we are causing a minor stir amongst the young women, oh man that is too funny."

Well it has been couple of full weeks for Alex and his companion. Alex mentioned that this week is transfers again and that they will find out within the next couple of days whether he or his companion will be off to a new place or if they will be able to continue the work that they started.